“Not unless they know that we’re serious about leaving,” Oakland said. He pointed a finger at Isaiah. “And they’ll always know we’re not serious about leaving, because their cameras are watching all the time, and all they see is the Society—a bunch of pansy Girl Scouts—too scared to do anything.”
Isaiah’s face was tight. “That kind of talk isn’t helping. Are we going to send them a message, or not?”
Oakland stood up. “You can kiss their butts all you want. But if you keep me in this place because you’re too chicken to stand up for yourself, the school’s not going to be the one to kill you.” He smacked the notepad from Isaiah’s hand and it spun onto the floor. Isaiah and Oakland stared at each other for a moment, and then Oakland left.
Mouse stood, and then Curtis and Carrie. Mason, Becky, and I were next, and then most of the student body was on its feet.
“I’m trying to keep everyone alive,” Isaiah said, not moving.
We left, climbing the stairs toward the dorms. By the time we got to the second floor, only a handful of the Society members were still sitting.
Oakland was already gone, and Mouse marched away toward her dorm, her shoes clacking on the hardwood floor.
The V’s all went their own ways. We were defeated and paranoid, and no closer to a solution than we’d been before I’d shown them Jane.
Curtis walked slowly toward the dorm. I think it was the only time I’d ever seen him leave Carrie without a kiss or a hug. They’d been sitting in the room together, but I hadn’t seen them holding hands.
Carrie watched him go and then turned for her dorm. She reached out a hand for Rosa, who went with her.
It was just the three of us left—me, Becky, and Mason.
Becky looked at me. She was nervous. “What now?”
I glanced at the window. It was early afternoon.
Reaching down, I unzipped a pocket on my cargo pants and pulled out one of the radios.
“Keep one with you in case something happens.”
“What’s going to happen?”
“No idea. But there’s something on the other side of that wall that killed Lily. And something took Laura to detention.”
Becky fiddled with the radio, twisting the dial from frequency to frequency. She didn’t seem to be in much of a hurry to go anywhere.
I noticed that Becky and Mason hadn’t said more than three words to each other. I had thought, perhaps foolishly, that we could trust each other a little more than that. I trusted both of them, or at least I thought I did. I wanted to.
Mason turned to leave. “I’m going back to bed,” he said with a defeated sigh.
I looked back at Becky. She was smiling—the same tour-guide grin-only now with red swollen eyes.
“What if we just stick together for a while?”
She seemed almost embarrassed to ask the question, but I nodded and put on an optimistic smile.
“Sure. We’re going to be okay, though.”
Becky laughed, shaking her head and turning away. “I know I’m going to be okay,” she joked. “I’m worried about you. Trouble seems to follow you.”
There wasn’t anywhere to go. There was no point in studying, and Havoc wasn’t doing any cooking in the cafeteria. We sat in the common room and talked.
Becky was real. She had to be.
Chapter Twenty-six
Becky leaned back in her overstuffed chair and giggled softly.
“My grandma was great,” she said. “And she would have hated you.”
I put up my hands in mock protest. “What’s wrong with me?”
“I told you—I grew up on a ranch in the middle of nowhere. She didn’t trust anyone from the city. You’re all liars and criminals. She used to keep a rifle by the front door in case any of your kind came around.”
“Oh yeah?” I laughed. “Well, in Pittsburgh we think people on ranches are hillbillies.”
Becky stuck out her tongue.
“Hang on,” she said, reaching for the back pocket of her jeans. “Someone’s paging me.”
“You brought your pager to a gang war?” I asked as she pulled the minicomputer from her pocket and opened it.
“Habit,” she said with an embarrassed smile. “I’m always on call.” She paused, reading whatever message had come through on her computer.
“Yours is networked?” I asked.
“It has to be so it can page me,” she murmured. “A lot of…”
I watched as the color drained from her face. She glanced at me, terror in her eyes, and then back at the screen.
I jumped from my chair to read over her shoulder.
“They’ve given the security contract back to Isaiah,” she said, her voice barely a whisper. “They’re supposed to send you and Rosa to detention and lock down the school. Martial law.”
Her eyes met mine.
“This is the school’s answer?”
“He won’t do it,” Becky said, but her eyes betrayed her. She knew he would.
I stood up. “What’s he going to do first? He’ll have to get everyone together, right?”
She looked panicked. “Yeah, he’ll get them together.” She grabbed my arm. “But he knows that I’ve been with you all day. He’s not going to waste any time.”
“We have to get everyone out. Now. We have to escape right now.”
Becky nodded, swallowing hard. She was trembling. “I’ll—I’ll go to the girls’ dorm and warn Rosa. They don’t know that I’m not in the Society anymore.”
“What if they do?”
“Then I’ll hurry.” She took a step toward the door and then turned back. “What are you going to do?”
“I’ve got to get Curtis,” I said, “and Oakland.”
“You can’t go in there. Even if they’re not organized yet.”
“I’ll hurry, too.”
We stared at each other for a moment. We don’t have time.
“You have the radio,” I said, and then turned and ran.
I was charging into a hornet’s nest, and there was nothing I could do about it. Maxfield Academy had declared war on me and I was going to fight back.
Cracking open the door to the dorm, I peered inside. I couldn’t see anyone, but people were definitely down there. There was the sound of a video game, the smell of microwave popcorn.
I stepped in, holding the doorknob so it wouldn’t make any noise as it closed. I crept silently down the hall, keeping my feet close to the wall to avoid creaking. I don’t know why that worked, but I’d been doing it for years to sneak out of my foster homes.
I moved quickly, getting to the junction that led to both Havoc and the Society. Noise came from both sides. For the first time since I’d gotten to the school, I wished I was wearing the school uniform. Everyone in the school had to know my black and yellow sweatshirt by now.
I paused, leaning into the wall, knowing that if I was spotted I could be hauled down to detention. Or just killed on the spot. No one would have been surprised.
But there was no sense in waiting. I couldn’t tell what was going on around the corner of the hallway.
They must have been able to hear my heartbeat anyway.
Running the rest of the way, I reached Curtis’s door. It was locked, and I knocked on it as quietly as I could. He was probably asleep.
I glanced back down the hall. No one was following me yet.
I knocked again, harder this time.
“What?” Curtis shouted from inside. A moment later he appeared at the door.
I held my finger to my lips.
“Isaiah’s coming,” I whispered. “I was with Becky and she got the message on—”
Curtis’s eyes latched on to something down the hall, and I turned to see. One of Isaiah’s thugs was watching. He disappeared as soon as our eyes met.
“Damn it,” I said, turning back to Curtis. “The school put him back in charge. They’re supposed to haul Rosa and me to detention. Becky called it martial law.”
Curtis moved faster than I expected, grabbing his shoes and yanking them on. “You get the V’s, I’ll find Oakland.”
“’Kay.”
“And, Benson,” he said. “They outnumber us. Get out of here, fast.”
I opened my room, shouting to Mason to get off his bed, and then ran back to the hall. I knocked on every door. There was more noise down the hall now, and we were in a dead end. And the Society had all their security gear.